Friends, It is with a heavy heart and profound sadness that I have to make an announcement that I truly wish I didn't have to make.

A cherished member of our community, Andrej - known to us as Khamul, or to you players as Firesong, has passed away.

There are few words I can say, but to put it briefly, there are few people who I have known for so long, who I have worked with so closely, or who I consider to be so singularly competent in all that they do as Andrej. His passing is a great loss to our community, and a tremendous blow to everyone who knew and worked with him.

I miss you, man. - Icarus & the SOI Staff

And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.

Greetings, I'm TheLegacy, and I'm a close friend of Andrej's, who quite frequently visited me and my roommate for various hobbies and games. About a year ago, he talked me into trying out SoI, prior to this iteration, and recently I got back involved with SoI with this iteration. To find out about Andrej's passing was incredibly difficult. Being the only one with contact with his friends here at middle-earth.us, I made sure that everyone knew as soon as I could of his passing.

I realise that his passing has left a huge hole in your hearts, and that the talent and skills that he had creating the world's rooms, work that he put an immense amount of work and time into, will be sorely missed. However, I know Andrej, and I know that, though he'd never say it, he took great pride in what he did, and he would also be immensely proud of all of you for making SoI a reality once again.

I'd be happy to speak to whoever would want to talk to me about Andrej, and I'm certain my roommate would offer the same thing. As for memorials, if you're looking to write something, please go to http://www.darwinsys.com/andrej, and write up whatever you'd like for his family and friends to read. I think Andrej would be honoured and would love to see the amazing things that you would write in his honour. Thank you for your time, and I hope to join you in SoI once things have settled down.

- The Legacy

[Petition:***] Why is there a pretty pink pony with doe eyes and a party-balloon cutie mark in the group?